Here are some things I’ve learned since I began volunteering/working on the beach. There are wonderful people in the world who want to protect natural resources like the land and the animals that use it.There are wonderful people in the world who take time out of their day to protect/preserve the land and the animals... Continue Reading →
Hide and Seek: Beach mysteries and COVID-19 vulnerability
The beach holds mystery in its tranquility and wildness. Things are hidden and revealed in unending cycles. There is vulnerability in these cycles. The water rolls and churns, clears and clouds. One minute it shows you the diaphanous form of a jellyfish in a swell, the next, that translucent threat has vanished and you wonder... Continue Reading →
Beautiful Obfuscation: Looking through fog toward joy
It is winter well and good here in Surfside Beach, though spring is not far away. The dunes have gone rustic and withered. Shorebirds limit their activity and gather in large groups of one-legged figurines, beaks into the wind. The sea oats have been stripped bare and are nodding sleepily at the calm water in... Continue Reading →
Winter Beachin’
A dense, soaking fog. A burst of camphor from the dunes as winter takes an intermission and allows a misty, warm morning: this is the lead-in to a cold front, but as warm as it is, high 70s, one would be forgiven for thinking it is spring if not for the faded grasses and flowers.Winter in... Continue Reading →
Fading to Fall in Surfside Beach
Fall has officially begun according to the calendar. To most observers in Southeast Texas, that only means it is late September. Our little piece of the planet is drying out from Tropical Storm Imelda. She popped up suddenly off our coast and made landfall about four miles away from our home. For my husband and... Continue Reading →
Time on the Second Sandbar
Time has both stood still and rushed by and generally lost meaning here. My face is raw despite my efforts to protect it. My suit is like so much sagging skin. My legs are drunk-weak. I am ready to simply swim on my back and look up at the deep blue Texas sky.
When Pelicans Peli-can’t: rescuing wildlife with wonderful people on Follet’s Island
When I was a child, the Brown Pelican was listed as endangered. I recall, in the late 70s, seeing perhaps one or two Brown pelicans at most on trips to Galveston. In recent decades the bird has bounced back and is now listed as “least concern.” On any given summer day in Surfside Beach, one... Continue Reading →
Tiny Treasures on Follet’s Island
It’s early spring—wildflower season in Texas. This is our answer to the autumn leaf season in the Northeast United States. This spring has been especially colorful. We had a mild winter that has lingered with cool March days and no blistering heat spikes. The result is a bounty of wildflowers in both the drier climes... Continue Reading →
Surfside Symphony, First Movement: Pianissimo and Forte
The big blind dog, the husband, and I sit in the vaulted den, windows open to the dry northwest wind on a clear day. The surf has been blown flat and the slightest shore break caresses the sand. Now and then, waves kicked up by a distant boat or breeze wander in, slap the first... Continue Reading →
Of Biting Bugs and Gopher Wood
Nature does nothing uselessly. -- Aristotle Southeast Texas Salt Marsh Barrier islands in the United States are typically backed by marshland. The marshes have their own magic and sometimes standing on the edge and looking out over the wide stretch of grass and calm, shallow water is as mesmerizing as staring at the sea. Unfortunately,... Continue Reading →
